The highly controversial issue of removing the McKinley statue from the Arcata Plaza will now be the decision of Arcata voters.
An initiative called “Keep McKinley Statue in Arcata Plaza” has qualified for the ballot, County Clerk-Recorder Kelly Sanders confirmed to the Outpost today.
The group “Let the people vote on our McKinley Statue” posted to Facebook yesterday:
The Arcata City Council voted 4-1 to remove the statue in February, with City Council Member Michael Winkler dissenting because he believed the issue should be put on a ballot for a vote by Arcata residents.
Winkler told the Outpost today
that he was contacted by various citizens who also thought this
statue’s fate should go to a community vote. Winkler took a lead role in
initiating the measure, and even gathered signatures door-to-door. He is
happy to see the hard work pay off.
“Rather than be made solely be city council, this is a decision the citizens should make,” Winkler said. “So that however this goes, the community feels that they participated.”
Councilmember Paul Pitino made the motion to remove the statue at the February 22 meeting. Pitino still strongly feels that removing the statue is the right thing to do, and he hopes voters will feel the same way. He is concerned some of the people who want the statue removed but don’t live in Arcata may not be fairly represented in a vote.
“Sometimes voting is a narrower democracy than having your representatives make the decision,” Pitino told the Outpost today. “This is one of the unmitigated parts of having a vote on it. It will be the will of the people, without having the most affected people able to vote. If the tribal peoples could vote it might be a little more fair.”
The Arcata City Council will address the initiative measure at City Council meeting July 11 at 6 p.m. at Arcata City Hall, 736 F Street.
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PREVIOUSLY:
- Arcata City Council to Hold Special Meeting on the Future of the McKinley Statue, Jacoby’s Storehouse Plaque
- OP-ED: I Mean, There’s Some Things to Think About Before That McKinley Statue Comes Down
- Arcata City Council Votes to Remove McKinley Statue From the Plaza
- (VIDEO) The Night They Tore Old McKinley Down
- Arcata City Council to Hold Mega-Meeting Next Week to Ask Itself Whether it Should Ask Voters Where They Would Most Like to See the McKinley Statue Moved To (Including Where it Is)
- The McKinley Statue is a Cheap Tchotchke, and We Shouldn’t Feel Bad About Tossing it in the Trash
- Eureka NAACP Scorns Arcata Councilmember’s Use of the Phrase ‘Lynch Mob’; Calls for Winkler’s Colleagues to Admonish Him
- (PHOTOS) These Historical Postcards Show Arcata’s McKinley Statue Through the Years
- Don’t Hold Your Breath, Arcata: Removing the McKinley Statue Is Going to Take a Long, Long Time
- Arcata Would Be First U.S. City to Tear Down a Presidential Monument Based on His Misdeeds, the Los Angeles Times Reports
- (VIDEO) ‘NO STATUE IS SAFE’: Arcata’s McKinley Statue Debated on Fox News
- (VIDEOS/AUDIO) Oh, Fox News Cannot Get Enough of Arcata’s McKinley Statue
- TONIGHT: McKinley Statue Removal Process Meeting; Public Comment Sought